The not-so-full Monte (Carlo)

Finn and Steffy reunited while Deacon got caught in a photo finish that included a poker face about Sheila's whereabouts. But Ridge saw the Breacon snap on Insta, so he insta-ntly kissed Taylor! Here we go again...and it's time to get to the naked truth with Two Scoops' Mike!

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you play hide-and-seek with someone being sought? Did you make a post that wasn't the most? Did you decide that anything your wife can do, you can do better? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Finnegan clan this week!

What just happened, Scoopers? Yes, Finn and Steffy were reunited, and yes, Krista Allen finally got into the credits after being on B&B eight months. (Flo and Shauna are gone...yay! And Liam got a new shirtless pic to boot!) But are we really getting back on the Bridge/Tridge marry-go-round again, just as Ridge went home to Brooke, and Taylor felt the spark of something new with Deacon? Oy! Let's Scoop about it!

Whatever Li and Sheila were pumping into Finn's arm via I.V., it must have been some potent stuff. Not hours after he got out of his bed/prison and left Sheila, hardly able to stand, Finn was able to rack up the miles on foot, looking for Steffy in Monte Carlo. I know it was for drama, but I agree with what many of you said about how Steffy would never take off and not be reachable, even though her kids were with a nanny.

As for Finn, who clearly took some inspiration from 24's indestructible Jack Bauer, he came upon a woman whom he was sure was Steffy...except it wasn't. Wow, Finn, out of practice, weren't ya! Side note: how was Finn able to jet overseas without a passport? Or did Bill send for it before takeoff? Anyway, Finn just kept going and going like the Energizer Bunny, despite his weakened state of not long before.

Finn couldn't just wait at Steffy's clinic until she inevitably came back? Granted, Monte Carlo's area is 0.3 square kilometers, but that's still a lot of ground to cover. Ridge and Taylor must have thought so, too, because they joined Finn in the search for the errant Steffy. And, to anyone they approached, they spoke English. Both Taylor and Ridge have lived in Paris. They couldn't ask questions in French?

It was kind of funny when the one woman Ridge had queried asked her friend, "Is it Ridge?" Let's face it; these folks are supposed to be world famous. Taylor rejoined Ridge, whose search had also turned up empty. Taylor had remembered how Finn's face had lit up when he saw "his" kids. "His"? Don't let Liam hear you say that! Only Hayes is Finn's child. Kelly is a Spencer, baby.

Elsewhere in town, the despondent Steffy sat on a bench...dolled up as if she'd just stepped off the cover of Vogue. Maybe she was just trying to make herself feel better, but...listen, I've been up and down with clinical depression my entire adult life, and I've had days I've never changed out of what I slept in! And Steffy wore only sweats and hoodies when she was hopped up on painkillers.

So, it was odd to see Steffy glammed out. A woman took note of Steffy's despair and spoke to her in English. Hearing Steffy say no one could help her, the woman suggested otherwise, after which, church bells rang. Wouldn't you know, Steffy was sitting near a glorious Monacan cathedral. Steffy headed in the direction of the bells and lit an altar candle. Maybe don't include Steffy's cleavage in the shot next time, guys.

Steffy at least had the woman's hint to lead her to the holy building. Finn...well, I guess it must be "Destiny 2.0", as Brooke later said referring to Sinn, because Finn heard the bells and decided, out of nowhere, to approach the church. (Ooh, I said "Sinn" and "church" in the same sentence, LOL.) And wouldn't you know, Steffy emerged from the vestibule as soon as Finn arrived. He called out to her...

...and cue the slo-mo running into arms! Steffy couldn't believe it...though I felt like she believed Finn's aliveness pretty quickly. I also felt like I would have enjoyed the reunion more if Steffy and Finn were a stronger couple. Before Sheila shot them, we hadn't seen Sinn together in ages, and here we're supposed to place them on the level of Bridge or Thacy. Remember when Macy turned up alive in Italy? That was epic.

At any rate, Finn and Steffy got back to the hotel and cuddled with the kids. How come both Kelly and Hayes are blond? Steffy, Finn, and Liam all have dark hair. Maybe Massimo's mother was blonde, and it trickled down to his great-grandchildren. Anyway, once alone, Finn explained to Steffy how Li had spirited him out of the hospital and how Sheila had come on duty to replace Li.

Which is why, later, after Finn and Steffy changed clothes for no good reason, Steffy told Finn she had so many questions about his continued existence, as if Finn hadn't already filled in the basic blanks. And Finn said he'd explain everything to Steffy later. Except, he already did! Or started to, anyway. When Li called to check in, Steffy thanked her for bringing Finn back. Guess Steff's cool with Li faking Finn's death!

Speaking of Li, don't you think Li's own resurrection happened way too fast? Here Bill pulled her off the street, and she couldn't say a word. Liam shows up and recognizes Li, and suddenly, Li is a chatterbox. They rushed through that arc, and it's a shame. I would have liked to have seen Bill and Li making a real connection as Li began recovering from her trauma. Instead, Bill accepted thanks from Ridge and walked out.

As Steffy and Finn talked about their time apart, Finn remarked that he had needed to get strong enough so he could come home to Steffy. Bullshoids! That was the rationale Sheila had used to keep Finn from bolting, and Finn resisted it all the way! At least Finn admitted he's not 100% yet, and he plans to see a doctor when he gets home. I should hope so. Even Jack Bauer had to stop between bullet wounds once in a while.

Back in La La Land, Deacon was chillin' on his couch in his...not supply closet. I'm sorry, but that's not the same room where Deacon and Ridge punched each other out. It was notably bigger, and it had a refrigerator. Does Il Giardino have more than one utility room? Anyway, whatever Deacon was studying got interrupted by a knock that became more insistent. Deacon answered...and opened the door to Sheila!

Of course, Sheila had been freed by Mike, who got himself arrested for the favor. (It might be a moot point now, but lots of you who didn't watch in the '90s have been asking about Mike and who he is, so I created this character profile for him.) Sheila wanted Deacon to hide her and explained how she really wasn't guilty of double homicide, after all.

Deacon wasn't having any. He reminded Sheila that he was still on probation and that Sheila was not the victim in the situation, no matter how much she tried to cast herself as such. Deacon also rightly pointed out that Sheila seemed okay with permanently robbing two little kids of their mother. Ouch. But Deacon expressed his indignation while slugging down a beer.

Isn't Deacon a confessed alcoholic? You'd think his mission to better himself would include staying sober. Or did the writers just slip up? Sheila kept justifying herself to an increasingly intolerant Deacon, certain that she wouldn't survive being behind bars again. I keep thinking of when Sheila was arrested for "killing" Taylor and told Stephanie she could get by in jail, no problem.

Well, for some reason I can't understand, Chief Deputy Baker showed up on whatever doorstep Deacon has, looking for Sheila. Why would Baker think to approach Deacon? Because the sexy Sharpe also has a prison record? And I do mean sexy, because Freaky Deaky whipped off his shirt and doused himself with water to make it seem he'd been showering. Smart. And hot. Where's my screen captures?

Deacon managed to give Baker the bake-off, but he told Sheila that under no circumstances could she stay with him. This after Sheila tried to play the "after everything I've done for you" card. Done what, exactly? Let Deacon stay over a few times? Deacon told Sheila he was going to work, as he'd told Baker he was going to do, and that Sheila was to leave not long after.

Once alone, Sheila thudded her head against the door, much as she did after her legit daughter Mary washed her hands of Sheila in Sheila's prison in 2002. (Then, it was the wall.) But if you thought that was weird, how about this...Deacon tells the cops he's headed in for a shift, but instead, he runs right over to Forrester, where he was all smiles with Hope and Brooke, despite having just aided and abetted Sheila!

This definitely docks a few points from Deacon's attempt to walk the straight and narrow. But that wasn't the only part of that scene that caused head scratching. Hope saw Taylor's social media post showing Finn and Steffy together with the kids. Great, but why would Taylor post something so personal...about something so huge? And with only a set of heart emojis accompanying the pic? How were Taylor's followers supposed to figure out what happened from that?

Stranger still, Hope found herself inspired to snap her own family pic with her parents...and post that. I know people, especially the younger ones, will post anything, but that just seemed weird. And Hope's description was, "Mom & Dad together." Why would she do that? To begin with, the text is misleading. And again, Hope might be a celebrity, but Deacon isn't. Hope didn't even ask her parents if she could post a photo of them!

You know how when, after you've shaken a snow globe, you watch until the last flake of "snow" has fallen and everything has settled? That's what we just went through with the months-long '20s rehash of Bridge/Tridge. Finally, that last speck of white had floated down. Ridge finally went home to Brooke, and Taylor started to see that there was more to life than Ridge, via Deacon. The latter was especially intriguing.

So, what did they have Hope do? Grab that snow globe and give it a good shake all over again! Taylor caught the picture of Breacon and Hope in her feed and tried to hide it from Ridge, predicting his reaction. But, of course, Taylor showed it to him, and, of course, Ridge got all butthurt. "My wife is cozying up to Deacon," he pouted. Where did he get that from? It's not like Breacon was having another verbal O in Brooke's office.

Also, Brooke promised Ridge that Deacon was no longer welcome in their home, and that Hope would have to see Deacon elsewhere. Did Brooke not essentially keep that promise? Ridge didn't say anything about Hope and Deacon meeting up at Forrester, where apparently Hope took a "risk" rebranding Hope for the Future with a similar, but modernized message.

Too bad we didn't learn what that risk was, and too bad we haven't actually seen a fashion show in...well, I honestly don't remember. Before COVID first hit? But Taylor could see that Ridge was dressed up in his sulky suit, so she took him out for a walk in Monte Carlo. Ridge started to get all mushy about the kids he'd had with Taylor, and he touched her chest where her heart is. And then BAM! He kissed her.

Was this really necessary? Like I said, we just finally wrapped up all that Bridge/Tridge hoopla and had set the stage for some new directions. And we're instantly going back to the hoopla? Not only that, but Ridge, who has been a playboy and a hypocrite in two millenniums, really outdid himself this time. He sees one picture showing Brooke and Deacon in a comparatively innocent situation, and Ridge decides to kiss someone else?

Taylor's not much better in this equation. There was a time she would have railed at the very idea of a married person of any gender kissing someone besides their spouse, and here she was gleefully accepting Ridge's smooch. Girl! You could have Deacon! Do we need to dig up those shirtless screen caps for you? Why are we having Ridge and Taylor both taking giant steps backwards so soon?

Gah, it's discouraging. When they got back to their hotel, Taylor broached the subject of the kiss, conceding that she and Ridge had gotten caught up in the moment and that they had gotten "a little too close." In the next breath, Taylor flirtatiously asked why Ridge had kissed her, and he replied, "How could I not?" This time, Ridge is 100% in the wrong, and I hope Brooke serves him with a Stephanie-style bitch slap for it.

Quinn and Carter? Why were they suddenly on my screen? It's true, I'm usually the one complaining that we don't have separate stories running side by side anymore, but this Quarter quackery was utterly pointless. Naturally, they were in bed, solidifying my stance that there's really nothing between them but sex. And all they did was talk about how great it was to finally be together.

To paraphrase Michael Jackson, this is FILLER! ch-OOH! There was absolutely no forward movement. No talk about Eric and Quinn filing any divorce papers, no talk about building a future -- hell, Carter didn't even ask Quinn to move in with him, and he usually does that on second dates. No, if anything, these guys segued from their pillow talk into a discussion about Steffy and Finn!

For real? Quinn, especially, has never even been in Finn's orbit! I was so bored by the whole thing, and having Quarter dish Sinn just seemed so contrived. There's got to be a way to develop new story for these guys. Like maybe Carter wants kids and Quinn doesn't. Or maybe vanilla Carter discovers that Quinn has a penchant for the chains and whips and has to decide whether to roll that way. Something!

Over at the Logan manse, an interesting conflict had erupted between Brooke and Hope. La Logan was not thrilled that Hope had posted her family pic, and she asked Hope to delete it. Meanwhile, Hope was annoyed that she wasn't allowed to take a picture of herself with her parents. I can actually see both sides. Really, Hope was well within her rights to snap the pic, but she shouldn't have made it public.

Hope and Brooke wondered if Ridge had seen the picture featuring Brooke and Deacon. Brooke couldn't be sure; she had spoken to Ridge as he was on his way to the airport off-screen, but on-screen, we saw Ridge dodging a call from Brooke. And Ridge had his phone on silent! Was that a good idea, between Steffy and Finn's reunion and Baker providing updates on the fugitive Sheila?

As mother and daughter discoursed, Deacon came strolling in. Doesn't Ridge still have Brooke's house surrounded by guards? And even so, Deacon knows damn well he's not supposed to show up at that house, an action he excused by saying he knew Ridge was still in transit. Sounds like some of Sheila's rationalization rubbed off on Deacon pretty quick.

Speaking of whom, this was the next day -- where was Sheila when Deacon got home? Because knowing her, she'd still have been in residence at Deacon's somehow. We skipped over that important point, however, to have Deacon get rejected by Brooke -- again. What is it about this show that has characters pining over people they haven't been in relationships with in decades? That's not romantic anymore. It's pathological!

Indeed, when Hope got Deacon out of his mom's house and took him to Forrester, Deacon admitted that he still had thoughts of being with Brooke. It's like that brief spark between him and Taylor never happened. And now, all Taylor can think about is Ridge again, as if she needed his kiss to have her brain on auto-repeat. What a wasted opportunity, if all the Deacon/Taylor scenes were nothing but a momentary distraction.

Brooke was ready when Ridge walked through the door, but she didn't expect to see him bringing Taylor home like Taylor was a lost puppy. Oh, they wanted to give Finn and Steffy time alone at the house, they said. Taylor doesn't have an office she can crash in? As for Finn, he said the place looked the same. I'll say it does -- it still has the license plate collage Liam put up in 2011! Why doesn't Steffy ever redecorate?

Deacon had asked Hope, if Ridge didn't have residual feelings for Taylor, then why hadn't Ridge made a full recommitment to Brooke? And that's a fair question. Though I'm not sure what residual feelings Ridge could have for Doc; they hung out a little while he was unofficially separated from Brooke, but it's not like Ridge and Taylor rekindled their romance. The Monte Carlo kiss did more of that.

Brooke initially didn't sound thrilled that Taylor had Ridgeblocked her, but it wasn't long before Brooke was letting Taylor know how thrilled she'd been for both Ridge and Taylor that Finn was alive and that Steffy no longer had to suffer. Which made Ridge look even more like an a-hole. As Ridge hugged Brooke, he got Liam's old constipated expression on his face! Well, Liam might be the Waffle Prince, but Ridge is the King of all Waffles!

So, here we are, with Ridge undecided between his women again after a respite of just a few weeks. Finn and Steffy are home, and Sheila is still on the loose. What do you think about what's happening, and what do you think should be happening? Go commando in the Comments section below or the Soap Central message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Your comments could end up in a future column! Like these!

"This show is in desperate need of some real glamour and romance. Eric and Donna are not bringing that and frankly, I see great possibility where Li and Bill are concerned. I would love to see a real romance develop there and I would love to see Taylor romanced by both Deacon and Ridge this time around. I would love to see Ridge actually have to fight for love again...I just don't see Ridge going back to Brooke in this anymore. That couple is so worn out." -- Genna

"I spent a month in a coma, and after I woke up another month in the hospital and rehab, I had to learn to walk again, due to my muscles being completely atrophied. So after 4 months in a coma, there's no way in hell Finn is going to be going anywhere anytime soon." -- Mariko

"That is what I love about soaps. The impossible always happening. It's imagination not reality that make soaps an art form. Reality is for documentaries and they are so boring." -- Jana

Well, anyone who's read my columns over the last thirteen years (!) knows I'm always advocating for more reality! To a point, anyway -- Jana is right that the soap opera is an art form unto itself and comes with a higher suspension of disbelief than other kinds of television shows. My thing has always been -- make it reasonable. I'll go with anything as long as there's a decent rationale for it!

Like Taylor's dancing this week! Ridge said she seemed like a teenager...I immediately flashed back to Taylor boogieing down under hypnosis in 1998. And Steffy slipped Finn's wedding ring back on his finger...except Steffy rendered their marriage invalid last year by not filing the papers on account of Sheila. If their marriage was legalized, it wasn't on-screen. And, with Finn having been declared dead, wouldn't that dissolve Steffy's marriage to him, anyway, even if it was legal? Oh, the questions.

It looks like B&B broke free of the fetters of the storylines that weighed down most of the year...only to fetter itself once again. But hey, Sheila's still on the loose, so anything can happen. Keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold. And, no matter where you are in the world, democracy, freedom, and protecting yourselves and others from viruses are always beautiful.AMJ

What are your thoughts on ? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- and there are many ways you can share your thoughts.